“Pleased to meet you, child. I am Earl Lipe, one of the nobles serving your family.”
‘So the nobles have already come to the Duke’s house.’
I was anxious, but I managed to greet him casually.
“Yes, hello.”
“Yes, very pleased indeed. I was curious about you after hearing rumors, and here you are, such a cute young lady.”
Then, he reached out with his big hand and tapped my head.
Startled, I blocked my head with both hands. The old servant behind the Earl also seemed surprised by his sudden action.
Yan, too, belatedly blocked his hand.
“You must not touch the young lady so casually!”
“Oh dear, oh dear! My mind must have wandered. She’s just too adorable.”
The Earl withdrew his hand leisurely, even after hearing Yan’s words.
His eyes didn’t smile, but the corners of his mouth turned up.
“This old man’s journey has not been in vain. Though I couldn’t see the Duke, I was able to see you.”
“If you came to see the Duke…”
“He said he was busy. No matter, I was planning to leave anyway, as I have another appointment.”
He cut Yan off and walked away with his servant, his nimble movements not matching his chubby figure.
Only after the Earl disappeared did I relax a bit.
‘The nobles must be displeased with me too.’
Earl Lipe’s attitude had been clear. He did not recognize me as the Duke’s child.
‘I can’t let the Duke be endangered.’
His danger was my danger. Then, a low voice came from behind.
“What are you doing here?”
I turned around to find the Duke striding toward me.
‘He must be coming from the training ground.’
Unlike other days, he was not in his formal attire but in casual clothes, and his hair was naturally disheveled.
“Yan, have you forgotten your duty?”
As the Duke approached, a chill went through me, as if my entire body was bristling.
‘He’s angry.’
In an instant, the atmosphere turned cold, and I froze.
If I could perceive it, Yan, a knight, certainly must have felt his reproach.
Without saying anything specific, he cornered Yan in a moment.
Yan quickly bowed his head.
“No, sir.”
“Then what was that I saw earlier?”
“I apologize, it was my negligence.”
Yan’s voice trembled slightly.
‘But why is he angry?’
He looked back and forth at the Duke and Ian with confused eyes. The answer was up to Phyllen. Phyllen whispered in my ear.
“Didn’t the Earl touch the baby’s head at will earlier? That’s something the escort should have stopped in advance.”
The scene from earlier popped into my mind again.
It was the Earl of Lipe who had carelessly tapped my head.
‘I’m fine.’
Though I was also surprised, that was it. It didn’t matter because I wasn’t hurt. But the Duke seemed to think differently.
“The escort should be replaced.”
Ian’s expression darkened rapidly. I hurriedly stepped in between them.
“Duke, wait a moment!”
“What is it?”
“I’m fine, it didn’t hurt at all.”
“Ah, Miss.”
Ian tried to stop me, but I blocked him without hesitation.
“So don’t be mad at Ian, I’m really fine.”
“This is none of your business.”
If I hadn’t been daunted by the Duke’s sharp gaze, it would have been a lie.
I inadvertently stepped back.
But if I had intended to back down, I wouldn’t have come forward in the first place.
“I’m fine, why are you angry, Duke?”
“What?”
The Duke furrowed his brow. Ian was restless, and alongside him, Phyllen looked confused as well.
The one who broke the heavy silence was the Duke. The Duke laughed nervously.
He rolled his eyes in disbelief and then stood up altogether.
The Duke spoke to Phyllen as if I was not even in his sight.
“Take the child to her room.”
“Come on, Miss, shall we go together?”
Phyllen approached me gently, trying to calm me down. The Duke spoke to Ian in a cold voice.
“You follow me.”
At that, my heart sank.
‘What are you going to do with Ian!’
I screamed without caring for my surroundings.
“Don’t be mad at Ian!”
[This is a time separator.]Upon returning to his office, Kailius finished his work more quickly than usual.
So did Phyllen.
They would have been happy to finish work early on any other day, but today they could not simply be pleased.
‘His Lordship is in a very bad mood.’
The reason seemed easy to guess, so Phyllen felt uneasy. It was something he couldn’t do anything about.
For a moment, Phyllen had left the office and witnessed Kailius quickly changing into comfortable clothes and leaving the room.
“My Lord, where are you going?”
“To spar.”
‘…I’ll get beaten without knowing why today.’
Phyllen hesitated for a moment.
He had devoted his life to the ducal family, except for a brief period of wandering, and planned to continue to do so in the future.
Though in different fields, the knights were also loyal to the ducal family, just like him.
Phyllen considered a slight sense of kinship and past loyalty, and then plucked up the courage to stop the Duke again.
“Weren’t you at the training grounds this morning as well? Isn’t it too harsh to overwork the knights…”
“Then you can be the opponent.”
“Please be careful.”
Phyllen quickly changed his attitude and scampered off.
That night, the training grounds were filled with painful screams until late.
My Step-brother Is Obsessed With Me (Female-dominant)
A gentle female protagonist vs pitiful in the early stage, and a sick male protagonist in the later stage
Cheng Songer transmigrated into the body of a vicious cannon fodder female supporting character with the same name as her in a female-dominant novel.
In the original story, the cannon fodder female supporting character was inhumane, committing domestic violence, gambling excessively, being lustful, and even wanting to sell her stepbrother to a brothel for money.
As luck would have it, she just happened to transmigrate at this time.
Seeing Cheng Qingzhi biting his lip, enduring the tears in his eyes, looking pitiful, her heart softened.
She stuffed the money back into the Madam’s hand and reached out to him.
“Brother, come home with me.”
